Tableaux rejected by Centre to be displayed at TN, Bengal R-Day functions

Amid the controversy over the central government rejecting tableaux of Tamil Nadu and West Bengal for the Republic Day parade in New Delhi, both the states have decided to display similar tableaus at the Republic Day functions in the respective states.

Tamil Nadu's tableau featuring contributions of freedom fighters from the state in the independence movement, which was rejected by the Centre would be showcased in the state's Republic Day celebrations, Chief Minister M K Stalin said on Tuesday.

Also, arrangements would be made to organise photo exhibitions in key cities of the country, taking forward an expo held in Chennai recently by the state government to showcase Tamil Nadu's role in the freedom struggle, the chief minister said.

It was a matter of regret and shock that the Centre has not assigned any reason for denying Tamil Nadu the opportunity to be a part of the celebrations in the national capital, Stalin said pointing to a letter from defence minister Rajnath Singh to him in this regard.

On January 17, Stalin had sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention to have TN's tableau included in celebrations in Delhi and Singh's letter is in response to it.

Tamil Nadu's contributions right from the Vellore revolution (1806) is very significant in the nation's struggle for independence, he said in a statement.

Chronicling the sacrifices of TN's freedom fighters including Veerathai Velunachiar, Poolithevan, Veerapandia Kattabomman, the Marudhu brothers, V O Chidambaranar and nationalist poet Bharathiar, he said Tamil Nadu had designed its float to remember them and their contributions.

Meanwhile, the West Bengal government has also decided to bring out a similar tableau on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose while celebrating the Republic Day in Kolkata, a senior official said on Tuesday.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will be garlanding the statue of Netaji on Red Road on January 26 before the celebrations for the Republic Day start there, he said.

"We will come out with a tableau on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on his 125th birth anniversary during the Republic Day parade on Red Road. We have started preparations for that," the official said.

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Banerjee had expressed shock over the Centre's decision to exclude West Bengal's tableau, which was set to focus on Netaji, from the Republic Day Parade in New Delhi.

She had urged the PM to reconsider the decision saying people of the state would be 'pained' by the move.

On Tuesday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh wrote to Banerjee indicating that since the Central Public Works Department's tableau already featured Bose, West Bengal's float was not included for the parade, without saying it in so many words.

'Our government had celebrated in 2018 with great fanfare the 75th anniversary of the government Netaji formed in exile in 1943. It was our government which included the living soldiers of the Azad Hind Fauj (Indian National Army) in the Republic Day Parade and felicitated them,' Singh wrote in his letter.